Sunday, November 9, 2008

Looking into hot air balloons...

I wanted to learn a little more about this mode of transportation, so I checked out this book from the library:

After some reading, it seems that traveling by balloon is going to be a little tricky for the Un-Road Trip. When in a hot air balloon, you're really at the mercy of the wind when it comes to the balloon's route and landing location. Although I also read about people who've taken balloons around the world, so I guess that by playing with different currents and ranges of altitudes, you can get yourself moving in a somewhat less arbitrary direction.

Also, it takes two teams to fly a hot air balloon. One of them is in the air, the other is on the ground acting as retrievers. They're driving behind the balloon in a truck, trying to be as close as possible when the balloon lands so that they can help with packing up and transportation of the balloon. This part seems a little troublesome with the Un-Road Trip. Although I wouldn't technically be riding in a truck, my presence in the balloon would require the truck. I'll have to think about that one...